His Hidden Heart
by LovelyLadyGrey
Summary: What if there was a second prophecy that no one knew about? As Harry comes closer to defeat Voldemort once and for all, Hermione comes to realize that this is only half the battle. If there is ever going to be peace in the magical community, they will have to overcome the ingrained hatred and mistrust that is between the purebloods and the muggleborns.
1. Prologue

Hello everyone!

This is my first ever attempt at writing my own fic, so any and all feedback will be hugely appreciated. I can't make any promises when it comes to posting regularly, apart from that I will try to not drag this out too much. I'm just posting a little prologue to get us started.

Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

PROLOGUE

* * *

A week after her job interview with Dumbledore, Sybill Trelawney sat in front of her cosy little fire. She was quietly celebrating her new job with a small glass of sherry.

It really was a shame that she lived alone. If she had someone other than her temperamental cat to keep her company, she would have had someone to celebrate the momentous occasion with, and there would have been someone there to record what would happen next.

Sybill's maternal grandmother may have been a great Seer, but Sybill herself could not be said to have inherited the gift. She had nothing but her last name going for her, and yet she had somehow snagged the most prestigious job a Seer could hope for in this day and age.

She had trouble believing that she was actually going to be teaching Divination at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though if anyone asked she would, of course, have to pretend that she had known that she would be offered the position all along.

Perhaps her lack of actual skill is what kept her from realizing exactly what effect the cheap cooking sherry was having on her. Perhaps she was worse at keeping count of the number of glasses than she thought. Whatever the reason, after a while her head sank back against her comfy high-backed chair and her eyes closed. Ignored by the world, a gravelly voice soon filled the room.

"The great war shall rise again, and with it so shall the Dark Lord. The Chosen One will do the Grey One's bidding and the dark will rest again.

Only when the Reluctant Serpent and the Wise One join forces will the bloodshed end and there can be peace once more."

Her cat looked up from its favourite spot in front of the fire. He looked at her oddly for a minute. He seemed to decide it was not important and started giving himself a nice and thorough bath.

His mistress slept in her chair even after the fire had died and the room was shrouded in darkness, never realizing what had happened.

* * *

Somewhere deep in the aisles of the Hall of Prophesies in the Department of Mysteries, a little glass orb appeared. There it sat, shimmering, seemingly with a little storm brewing inside it, undiscovered and gathering dust for many years to come.

Its quiet existence wasn't disturbed until a certain evening in May almost a decade and a half later. The normally quiet and darkened room was suddenly filled with shouting and bright lights flashing this way and that. When something knocked into the shelves, making them topple over like rows of dominoes, the prophecy fell to the floor surrounded by a shower of glass orbs. All of them shattered on the floor in a rather stunning display.

As the room filled with whispered voices and ethereal puffs of smoke, the prophecy could finally reveal itself. It really is a shame that no one could make out what it had to say in the cacophony of whispered prophecies that filled the room. Maybe things would have gone a little smoother if someone had been there to listen.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

HESITANT REVELATIONS

* * *

Hermione took a moment to wonder how this had become her new normal. The seemingly never-ending fighting, the all too common funerals, and the heartbreaking sacrifices they all had to endure to retain a hope of someday defeating Voldemort. It had gone on long enough that a life that was free of all of this seemed distant.

She took a deep breath before turning from the defeated Death Eater in front of her on the battlefield that used to be the Hogwarts' Quidditch Pitch to identify her next potential threat or target. She didn't have to search long.

Another figure clad in a black cloak was approaching Remus Lupin from behind as he fought Fenrir Greyback in a vicious duel. Greyback looked ready to discard his wand and fight with his bare hands at any moment, but Remus had the upper hand with his first-rate duelling skills and vast spell repertoire. Hermione knew he could fend for himself, but she wouldn't risk distracting him with a warning about the danger sneaking up behind him.

She felled the man with a simple curse thrown with deadly accuracy. As he fell, Hermione could see that he was one of the fanatics that cared more for the Dark Lords cause than their anonymity. Goyle Sr's unmasked face registered a look of disbelief that he had been felled by a 16-year-old Mudblood.

"Thanks!" Remus yelled over his shoulder as he sent Greyback flying with a well placed Petrificus. She gave him a quick nod in reply and started sweeping her gaze over the battleground again.

She was mostly looking for Harry. She hoped he had found the artefact Voldemort had used for the last Horcrux by now and she was in a hurry to find him. She checked that she still had the Basilisk fangs in her pockets again, just to be safe.

Hermione set off towards the castle as quickly as she could manage while dodging curses and jumping over craters and fallen bodies. When she was almost at the steps to the entrance hall, she was stopped in her tracks by the intense stare of Draco Malfoy.

She would later wonder what it was about him that made the chaos around them fade away. He stood on the threshold of the school, just as transfixed as she was. She hadn't seen him since the train ride home last spring. He looked like he was a little healthier now. The haunted look in his eyes had lessened, and he didn't look quite as thin as before.

The moment broke a second later when someone bumped into her while dodging a bright green curse. They both seemed to remember the danger they were in and started moving again. Malfoy started running down the steps towards her. Just as they were about to run past each other though, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground.

All the air was knocked out of her lungs and she was too shocked to move. Before she knew it Malfoy was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. His hands came up to her face and she panicked, desperate to scream, but found it impossible. He didn't cover her mouth or clutch at her throat though; he shielded her face as much as possible, just in time for the world to explode around them. Even though he tried his best to block out the light and sound of the explosion the sound was deafening and the light felt brighter than staring at the sun. He covered her body protectively with his own as an entire section of the school collapsed.

They lay there for what seemed like ages while rocks and debris rained all around them. The ground shaking as large stones landed too close to their heads for comfort. And still, Hermione struggled to breathe. Her lungs refused to expand under the weight of the Death Eater on top of her.

As she started to lose consciousness, Malfoy finally dared lift his head and look at her. Seeing her intense struggle to breathe, he immediately lifted his weight off her and put his mouth on hers and blew. Having never heard of CPR, he didn't think to close her nose or tilt her head back, but it was enough. Her lungs expanded and she felt her head clear a little.

Before she had time to react or say anything, they could hear a yell coming through the gaping hole in the school. It would seem that Ron had recognized her wild hair and that he didn't like the look of the Death Eater on top of her. With no thought to his own safety – or strategy for that matter – the second youngest Weasley screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Get the hell off my girlfriend, you evil vulture!" he yelled before sending Malfoy flying through the air with a high powered Expelliarmus.

"You alright, Mione?" Ron asked as he helped her up.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit out of breath, that's all. Have you seen Harry anywhere?" she replied, as she discreetly tried to see if Malfoy was okay.

Her mind was reeling from everything that just happened. It was hard to fathom and if it hadn't been for the giant hole in the wall she might have convinced herself it never happened. She would have to wait until later to think about what it all meant and the fact that none other than her childhood nemesis had just saved her life.

Ron just shook his head dejectedly. "No, but Luna said something about sending him to talk to the Grey Lady. Maybe we should head towards Ravenclaw tower, and hope to run into him on the way?"

"It's probably our best shot. I just wish we had the Marauder's map with us," Hermione agreed.

"Probably wouldn't have been all that easy to spot him on the map in all this chaos anyway," Ron said.

They started making their way to the West tower, but it was slow going with crumbling walls and collapsed staircases turning the school into a giant, dangerous labyrinth. Ron suggested they try a shortcut to the seventh floor so that they could avoid some of the most damaged staircases, in the hope that it would be safer.

Just as they emerged from behind the tapestry, Harry rounded the corner at full speed. Only their many months on the run stopped Hermione from yelling his name; there was no need to advertise his location more than necessary.

"Thank Merlin we found you!" Ron exclaimed. "We've got the venom. Any luck with the Horcrux?"

"Yeah! Apparently... it's the... Lost Diadem... of Ravenclaw." Harry replied while resting his weight against the wall for a bit, trying to catch his breath.

"How are we going to find something that has been lost for generations?" Hermione asked with a hint of desperation.

"Apparently it's in the Room of Hidden Things," Harry answered with a rare smile.

"You mean it's in the Room of Requirement?" Ron could hardly believe their luck.

"Kind of, yeah. I think I saw it last year, but there's an unbelievable amount of junk in there. Don't worry though. I'm pretty sure I remember the general area where I saw it."

* * *

Once they had the door open, Ron and Hermione groaned in unison as they saw the mountains and mountains of contraband and useless furniture that had been stashed in there over the centuries.

"Come on. This way," Harry said before closing the door and leading the way between the massive piles of junk.

They had been picking their way through the mess for a few minutes when Hermione thought she spotted some movement in a broken mirror on the nearest pile just as Harry and Ron rounded the corner.

Whipping out her wand and spinning around she came face to face with Malfoy again. He stood there calmly and gave her a little smile before raising his finger to his lips.

She had to admit she was secretly relieved to see he hadn't been seriously hurt while protecting her earlier. She couldn't figure out what was going on with him. She had never seen him act anything like this before.

Her confusion must have been written on her face because he silently pointed out the retreating backs of Crabbe and Goyle.

Completely stunned, Hermione watched him follow them in the opposite direction. She hurried after Ron and Harry, wondering if she should them what just happened or not. Their long months on the run had made them naturally wary of making noise, so she didn't think they necessarily needed to know, provided Malfoy could be trusted.

"I think it was over here," Harry whispered, pointing towards a slightly smaller than average pile a little further ahead.

"I can't believe you remember where one tiny little piece of jewellery was in all this, more than a year later. Apparently, Mione's not the only one with an unbelievable memory," Ron muttered as they approached a little cabinet with a bust on top of it.

The bust was cracked and had been given a moustache, drawn on in a shaky hand, and topped with an ugly wig, on top of which the diadem twinkled gently in the low light.

"You actually found it, Harry!" Hermione could hardly believe their luck.

"It's a shame it's cursed, eh Hermione? Bet you would have loved to try it out to see if it could make you even more clever." Ron nudged her playfully.

"It seems to me that you're the one who's missing out, Weasel. After all, we all know you wouldn't have managed a single OWL if it hadn't been for your tame muggleborn over there." Malfoy's sarcastic voice suddenly sounded from behind the trio.

As they turned, Hermione could plainly see the frustration in his eyes as he tried to convince everyone that his allegiances were the same as ever. Harry and Ron's hot temper and Crabbe and Goyle's stupidity would make avoiding a duel difficult for him.

Ron didn't even attempt to come up with a retort. His face turning red with instant anger and hatred, he raised his wand. To everyone's eternal amazement Crabbe was quicker on the draw. He thoughtlessly casting the spell he had been practising most lately – Fiendfyre.

Everyone, including Crabbe, instantly panicked and jumped away from the volatile fire that was quickly spreading. Harry instinctively grabbed the diadem and went to toss it into the fire.

"Stop!" Hermione shrieked. "You don't know how it will react. You could kill us all. We have to wait till later."

Harry nodded and put his arm through the diadem, shoving it as far up as it would go to keep it safe.

Hermione watched the flames spread madly for a second, feeling the hysteria start to overcome her before stubbornly shaking it off.

"Accio brooms!" she shouted, desperately hoping there would be some stashed somewhere in this mess that weren't too far buried in a pile to respond to the summons.

Four brooms came flying at them from opposite directions, though one was quickly lost to the flames as Goyle failed to grab it as it flew past. Harry, Malfoy and Crabbe all managed to snag one each. Harry and Ron barely had time to look at each other trying to decide what to do, before Malfoy had climbed onto the broom in his hands.

They watched in stunned silence as he, instead of taking off to save himself, he grabbed Hermione and made her climb onto the broom behind him before elegantly taking to the air.

Harry decided that was best left until they were no longer in danger of being burned to a crisp and tugged on Ron's sleeve to make him snap out of it and climb onto the broom with him. He may not be sure that Malfoy could be trusted, but there was no getting around the fact that there weren't enough brooms for everyone and the fire was spreading quicker than he had ever thought possible. The air above them was thick with smoke and the room was getting dangerously hot as the piles of contraband caught fire all around them. They had to get out of there now.

Crabbe and Goyle were already in the air in a mad dash to get to the exit. The two boys were both quite heavy, proving to be a too heavy burden and slowing down the old broom. Crabbe was unable to get the sluggish broom to respond properly.

Hermione grabbed a tighter hold of Malfoy as a particularly tall pile toppled in a burning avalanche of red-hot, unrecognizable pieces of furniture, books and knickknacks fell to the ground in a shower of sparks, burying the two boys flying ahead of them.

She could feel him tense as he gently swerved to avoid columns of smoke and red-hot sparks, he gave no other indication that he had just watched his two best friends fall to their deaths.

As they rushed through the hot, smoky air towards the exit Hermione started feeling lightheaded. As her lungs filled with smoke, it felt like the lack of food and sleep suddenly caught up with her. As the world started going dark around her, she couldn't summon the energy to be scared even as she started to lose her grip on Malfoy.

She thought she felt him reach for her to hold her steady, but she was too far gone to be certain.

* * *

The next thing she knew, Hermione was lying in a bed somewhere. She was unable to move, open her eyes or even call out for anyone. She could hear someone breathing quite close to her though and from the rustling sound of fabric on either side of the bed, they weren't alone.

"If she doesn't make it through this, that's on you, Potter," Malfoy sneered rather close to Hermione's ear. It sounded like he might be sitting next to her bed.

"What are you on about, you foul git?" Ron asked angrily.

"She's supposed to be your best friend and you drag her into all kinds of danger. How many detentions has she earned trying to help you? How many times has she ended up in this damn infirmary?"

When Harry seemed too shocked to say anything, Malfoy charged on.

"How many times have you almost gotten her killed?!"

At this, Harry seemed to snap out of it. "I always try to get her to stay behind. I don't want anybody to get hurt. It's hardly my fault she won't let me go alone!"

"And what would you expect? You and that red-haired weasel are her only friends in this world. She is a muggle-born teenaged girl with no one to protect her but you two, and you fail her again and again."

Harry hung his head. "I know," he whispered dejectedly.

Malfoy seemed to hesitate a bit at this. "Look, I know it's hard for you, and that you feel an obligation to save everybody. But you're just a kid like the rest of us. I don't give a shit about prophesies or destiny. Do you really feel obligated to run mindlessly into life-threatening situations, just because of something a crazy Seer saw in her crystal ball before we were born?"

"I know it may look like I'm just this glory-seeking, selfish prat, but even you must realize that Hermione would never insist to stay by my side if I was a thrillseeker that insisted we go look for danger. We both know she's far too clever for that," Harry said sincerely.

"What's it to you anyway?" Ron asked rather ungraciously.

"Why are you fighting in this war, if it isn't to save innocent lives? She's about as innocent as you can get. I bet she hasn't really caused any real harm since she broke my nose when we were third years. Am I right?"

"Not really, no. She favours defensive spells and focuses on healing so that others can focus on the offence. But I'll never forget how she set those vicious birds on me last year," Ron admitted sheepishly.

"You deserved it, Ron." Harry chuckled, slapping him on the back.

Ron mumbled noncommittally before telling them he was going to look for something to eat.

Harry and Malfoy sat in something that almost felt like companionable silence for a little while after Ron left.

"So you're not so big on the whole death-to-Mudbloods agenda anymore, I take it?" Harry asked quietly.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "No, I decided to grow up. It's only natural to spout off the nonsense you hear at home when you're little. It's another matter to act on the beliefs that I was handed when it involves hurting children and innocent people just trying to live their lives. Muggles don't even know we exist. How can they possibly deserve the things that the Dark Lord wants me to do to them?"

The boys were silent for a while to let their view of each other adjust to all this new information. Hermione was starting to fall asleep when she felt a hand quietly slipping into hers. She couldn't be sure, but it didn't feel like Harry or Ron's.


End file.
